Habitat Walker
Habitat Walker Affiliation: The Hierarchy Type: Land Giant, Mobile Structure, Production Walker Health: Health depends on condition of death puzzle. Death Puzzle: Outer Panels + Hardpoints (x2) -> Coolant Node (x2) Armor: Alien Hardpoint/Alien Hardpoint Armor Movement Type: Large Walker Speed: 0.25 Sight Range: 270 Cost: 2000RM Time: 1:05 Popcap: 1 (Walker Cap) Produced From: Glyph Carver (Requires Arrival Site) Special Ability: Hardpoints, Fire Radiator Artillery (requires hardpoint), Produce Infantry Weapon: Plasma Blob, Mass Driver (Requires hardpoint), Electric Arc (requires hardpoint) Damage: Plasma Blob: 35 Electric Arch: 11.5% Upgrades: Fast Ordering (Quantum-2), Foo Longitivity (Assault-2), Enhanced Locomoters (Assault 4), Molecular Armor (Quantum-3) Quantum Ordnance (Quantum-3), Volatile Reactors (Mutagen-1), Irradiated Shots (Mutagen-1), Gamma Radiation (Mutagen-3) :"We aren't going anywhere without a Habitat Walker." :-Orlok, emphasising the Habitat Walker's importance to an assault. The iconic Habitat Walker is one of the two Production Walkers for the Hierarchy and replaces a Barracks Structure for the faction. General The towering Habitat Walker has four long, but bulky legs that it uses for movement and six plasma cannon barrels arranged in a triangular pattern on either side of its "head". The walkers head contains teleport systems for calling down Hierarchy infantry, which are beamed down to the ground from a glowing circle on the walker's "face". The Walker's upper body is somewhat shaped like a lopsided hexagon and has exactly four crown hardpoint sockets and a pair of giant coolant vents that appear somewhat like horns. The sheer size of the Walker allows it to destroy most ground units and buildings by simply stepping on them with its legs. The walker is also truly "all terrain", able to climb cliffs and mountains or wade through lakes. Like all of the large Hierarchy Walkers, the Habitat Walker can not be destroyed by simply attacking it. Rather, enemies must destroy its crown hardpoints to expose the walker's coolant nodes. If one node is destroyed, the Habitat Walker's two emergency cooling vents activate and start venting heated gases with a mechanical wail. If two coolant nodes are destroyed, the walker's core will overheat and detonate. Campaign The Habitat Walker is inarguably the most common of all the Hierarchy walkers. The first of these walkers is dropped from orbit just after Randal Moore and his troops had evacuated the president from the capitol building in Washington D.C. The walker impacted right in the capitol building and, after uncurling, opened fire on human tanks. In the second mission, this walker continued its rampage as Moore escorted the president to a nearby military fort for evacuation. Despite fighting valiantly, the human forces were unable to even dent the walker, much less damage it as it approached. However, at the moment the walker arrived at the base, several bluish portals opened and several robotic soldiers and a towering mech stepped forth to attack the walker, providing a chance for the remaining soldiers to retreat. The Walker began retreating and the pilot of the mech, Mirabel, was then tasked with taking down the walker by the leader of Novus, The Founder. Later, a trio of Habitat Walkers were deployed to Eastern Siberia while Novus was collecting portal pieces for their Home Portal. These walkers took position in various places and continued to call down Grunts until they were either destroyed or Novus completed their mission. During a mission in Turkmenistan, a pair of Habitat Walkers were part of a massive Hierarchy task force that entered the territory to demolish several native settlements. During Mirabel's infiltration of a Hierarchy command ship, a single Habitat Walker was encountered aboard. Finally, a trio of Habitat Walkers equipped with plasma turrets and radiator artillery attempted to assault the primary Novus base in the middle east. Despite the majority of the force being destroyed, one Habitat walker did manage to pierce Novus' defenses and damage the Home Portal before collapsing. In the Hierarchy campaign, the Hierarchy commander Orlok was originally planing on assaulting a Novus outpost with a Habitat walker leading the way, but Kamal Re'x refused to provide one, claiming that the compliment of infantry provided would be more than enough to handle the mission. A little while later, Kamal grew impatient and Orlok managed to persuade him to provide the Habitat Walker for the final assault. During their final cleanup, one of the walker's blasts missed its target and impacted a Pyramid, causing a retreat signal to be broadcast all over the globe. Later, Habitat Walkers were used to assault the last remaining supply of nuclear weapons and to protect Nufai's base from Novus attacks. Finally, one walker was part of Orlok's army during his rebellion, but this unit was destroyed by Kamal's superiorly armed Assembly Walkers before it could deal too much damage. During Prince Zessus' escape from a Hierarchy compound, a single Habitat Walker stood guard over the northern compound's entrance along with several Brutes, Grunts, Defilers, and Phase Tanks. Tactical Application The Habitat Walker serves as the infantry production structure for the Hierarchy and is available at the start of a match. Like the other walkers its cannons are reasonably powerful and it is able to have four weapon or production enhancement hardpoints added to its crown. However, the walker has several key drawbacks to consider. Firstly, it costs more to completely cover with hardpoints than an Assembly Walker (allowing for more customization at increased total cost) and has less durability with only 4/6 hardpoints needing to be destroyed (compared to the 6-9 of the Assembly). Like the Assembly Walker, its cannons fire very slowly unless their rate of fire is augmented by weapon accelerator hardpoint. However, the Habitat Walker's Glyph is carved and scanned faster than that of an Assembly Walker and its basic units are much cheaper and can be built in greater numbers. Be advised a Habitat Walker should rarely be used in a Hierarchy mirror match early on as it is unlikely to survive combat with an enemy Assembly Walker with attending Saucers and most Hierarchy infantry (with the exception of the Lost One) are ineffective in walker vs walker combat. Later on in a match, once more research has been completed, a Habitat Walker may be a more viable option due to its superior range or fire rate and its units gain more from research upgrades. Units Produced *Grunt *Lost One (requires Lost One Pod hardpoint) *Brute (requires Brute Pod hardpoint) Hardpoints The Habitat Walker has 4 body hardpoint sockets with 400 health each and 4 leg hardpoint sockets with 350 health each. When a leg socket is destroyed, the Walker's speed is reduced by 10%. When a body socket is destroyed, a Coolant Node is revealed. If 2 Coolant Nodes are destroyed, the Habitat Walker's core overheats and explodes. Internal Hardpoints *'Coolant Node' Effect: Coolant Nodes keep the Habitat Walker's core's temperature at manageable thermal levels. Upon the first Coolant Node being destroyed, the walker's emergency heat vents will activate. The destruction of a second Coolant Node will cause the core to overheat and explode, resulting in the destruction of the Habitat Walker. Prerequisites: Destruction of body socket Cost: N/A Time: N/A Health'': 600 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint Crown Hardpoints *'''Lost One Pod Effect: Allows production of Lost Ones Prerequisites: None Cost: 400 Time: 0:16 Health: 400 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Brute Pod' Effect: Allows production of Brutes Prerequisites: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 2 Cost: 650 Time: 0:18 Health: 400 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Armor Plating' Effect: Covers socket with durable alloy for added protection of the socket. Prerequisites: None Cost: 700 Time: 0:20 Health: 1,000 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint Armor *'Weapon Accelerator' Effect: Reduces reload and recharge times of Walker weapons and abilities by 20% each. Prerequisites: None Cost: 700 Time: 0:20 Health: 700 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Range Enhancer' Effect: Increases the range of all Walker weapons and abilities by 20% each. Prerequisites: Research Assault Branch Suite 1 Cost: 700 Time: 0:20 Health: 700 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Radiator Artillery' Effect: Allows the Habitat Walker to launch a radiation warhead that emits radiation in the same manner as an upgraded Spitter Turret in the area around it upon landing for 16 seconds. Prerequisites: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 2 Cost: 1,000 Range: 0-280 Radius: 100 Cooldown: 0:35 (from launch) :1 '''Weapon Accelerator: 0:30 :''2 '''Weapon Accelerators: 0:26 :''3 '''Weapon Accelerators: 0:22 Health: 1,100 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint Leg Hardpoints *'''Armor Plating Effect: Covers socket with durable alloy for added protection of the socket. Prerequisites: None Cost: 700 Time: 0:20 Health: 1,000 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint Armor *'Repair Chamber' Effect: Generates 3 plasma orbs like those of a Saucer which will conduct repairs on their host Walker. Note: The plasma orbs cannot repair destroyed sockets. Prerequisites:Assembly Walker Cost: 400 Time: 0:16 Health: 350 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Cost Optimizer' Effect: Reduces unit resource costs for all units produced by the walker by 8% each. Prerequisites: None Cost: 300 Time: 0:15 Health: 250 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Teleport Accelerator' Effect: Reduces unit build times by 12% each for all units produced by the walker. Prerequisites: None Cost: 300 Time: 0:15 Health: 250 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Plasma Turret' Effect: Adds an additional plasma weapon. Prerequisites: None Cost: 800 Time: 0:22 Range: 0-280 Damage: 35 Shots per burst: 1 Recharge: 3.0 seconds Health: 800 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint *'Arc Turret' Effect: Adds an anti-air electricity weapon. Prerequisites: Research Assault Branch Suite 1 Cost: 800 Time: 0:20 Damage: 11.4% Recharge: 3.0 seconds Health: 800 Armor: Alien Walker Hardpoint Upgrades Advanced Mutagens Effect:Dead irradiated organics become Mutant Slaves Method: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 3 Fast Ordering Effect: Glyphs carve 25% faster. Method: Research Quantum Branch Suite 2 Foo Longetivity Effect: Orbs gain regeneration so they can last longer away from the Repair Chamber Method: Research Assault Branch Suite 2 Gamma Radiation Effect: Radiation damage increased to 10 per second Method: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 3 Irradiated Shots Effect: Plasma bolts are irradiated, inflicting radiation damage over time to targets and turning organics into Mutant Slaves Method: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 1 Damage: 5 per second Duration: 3 seconds Locomotor Enhancement Effect: Movement and rotation speed increased by 60% Method: Research Assault Branch Suite 4 Molecular Armor Effect: Halves damage taken Method: Research Quantum Branch Suite 3 Quantum Ordnance Effect: Plasma attacks explode for an additional 10 damage Method: Research Quantum Branch Suite 3 Volatile Reactors Effect: Walker now emits a radioactive cloud when destroyed Method: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 1 Tips and Trivia *The Habitat Walker is the iconic unit of the game, appearing in most (if not all) advertisements and on the cover of the game itself. *Curiously, Orlok seems to favor the Habitat Walker, as he possesses one unit at the beginning of his rebellion. It is possible that this, coupled with the Founders remark on the Assembly being a "new walker", simply means the Habitat Walker is an older model and thus more plentiful/expendable. *It's the first walker you ever see and use in the game. *The Habitat walker is a good choice for sending in first to distract the enemy. This allows your Assembly walker to engage and destroy any remaining units and/or buildings. Category: Hierarchy Units Category:Walkers